Statistics provided by Economy Ministry Diamond Controller Shmuel Mordechai revealed that Israel’s polished diamond exports, during the first half of 2013, fell 2% year on year to US$3.233 billion.
Mordechai, explained that trading of rough and polished diamonds stabilized during the six months compared to the first half of 2012, despite the global economic crisis and the internal crisis in the industry..
Mordechai added that trends at the recent Las Vegas and Hong Kong shows, where Israel hosted a large contingent of exhibitors, indicated stability in global activity and a slight recovery trend in the local industry.
Mordechai revealed that the export of polished diamonds decreased slightly by 2%, as compared to 2012 H1. By contrast, Israel's exports of rough diamonds actually rose by 8.1%. Israel imported US$2.037 billion worth of rough diamonds in the first half of 2013, a 2.8% increase over the US$1.984 billion worth it imported in the first half of 2012. The country imported US$2.084 billion worth of polished diamonds during that time, a decrease of 5.3%.
Israel’s polished imports declined 5% to $2.084 billion during the first half of 2013. Net polished exports, representing the excess of exports over imports, grew 4% to $1.149 billion.
The United States continues to be the largest market to purchase the polished diamonds exported by Israel, accounting for 44% of Israeli polished exports. The U.S. is followed by Hong Kong with 29.7%, Belgium with 6.7%, Switzerland with 7.8% and Thailand with 1.1%.
